Assaults on Staff Lead to Claims of Endemic Violence

The Health and Community Services Union has called on the Victorian Government to step in following claims that 17 physical assaults and violent incidents have been reported by mental health staff at the Sunshine Mental Health Service at Sunshine Hospital during January and February this year.

North West Mental Health will apply for a slice of the State Government’s $20 million Health Service Violence Prevention Fund as it emerged staff at its Sunshine centre are increasingly being assaulted.

Some of the incidents reported to management in that two-month period include an attempted strangulation of a staff member, a door slammed in a staff member’s face resulting in soft tissue damage and potential future surgery, a chair thrown at a staff member and a series of threats against staff members by patients and visitors.